The Aiap Women in Design Award (AWDA) is a project curated by Cinzia Ferrara, Laura Moretti, Carla Palladino and Daniela Piscitelli and organised by Aiap (the official Italian Association of Graphic and Communication Design). Currently in its fourth edition, the biennial international award is open to women designers working in the field of visual communication. The main goal of the project is to investigate the languages, poetics and different approaches to graphic design, as well as to explore the conditions in which women designers work.
UNCOVER is the catalogue of the 3rd and 4th edition of the AWDA award. It’s the third book published by Aiap Editions x AWDA and is a multifaceted project featuring the student, professional and research proposals selected for the third and fourth editions of the AIAP Women in Design Award. It is also a collection of essays and contributions that look through the lens of design at the issues of women’s rights, women’s work and, more generally, inequality in every field. The essays and visual projects are accompanied by interviews with people working in a wide range of different fields, including economics, communication, journalism, politics, education, art, voluntary work, and public sector institutions. “The book is atypical in that it seeks to ‘uncover’ not only visual communication projects from all over the world, but also stories of activism and commitment capable of triggering the cultural change that we feel is necessary, now and in the future.”
We talked with Aiap Women in Design Award contributor Constanza De Luca to find out more about the overall aims of the Aiap and the publication of UNCOVER, why celebrating the achievements of women in design is important, and plans for the future of the initiative.
Can you tell us bit about how the Aiap Women in Design Award (AWDA) began and the overall aims of the project?
The AWDA Award was born 10 years ago in Italy thanks to three women designers inside AIAP (the official Italian Association of Graphic and Communication Design) – Laura Moretti, Carla Palladino, Cinzia Ferrara. Even though they were all pursuing a career in graphic design and teaching, they felt the need to make something that provides visibility for women in the field. The idea behind the establishment of an award was to provide an opportunity to discover outstanding visual communication projects created by women students, professionals, teachers, and to celebrate voices and talent from around the world. Their vision is to create a database of projects that can provide a valuable record of women’s ideas, visual language, and ways of communicating in the contemporary world.
“The idea behind the establishment of an award was to provide an opportunity to discover outstanding visual communication projects created by women students, professionals, teachers, and to celebrate voices and talent from around the world. Their vision is to create a database of projects that can provide a valuable record of women’s ideas, visual language, and ways of communicating in the contemporary world.”
Who is involved in curating and organising the project?
There are now six of us working on the project. The three founders and curators, plus illustrator, Bianca Sangalli Moretti (@biancaspino); Graphic Designer, Lucia Tonelli (@lucia_tonno) and myself, Graphic Designer Costanza de Luca (@effettipostumi). We met on our M.A. at ISIA Urbino and started collaborating with AWDA during our time at university. We work together to promote the initiative and work on the campaign for the next call out for submissions. It’s a small group of very strong-willed women who help each other with PR, content, copywriting etc. giving everything we can to this cause.
What is UNCOVER and where did the idea come from?
UNCOVER is the catalogue of the 3rd and 4th edition of the AWDA award. It’s the third book published by Aiap Editions x AWDA and it’s a fresh start from what was produced previously. The overall style needed a new concept and brand refresh and UNCOVER is a complete departure from the previous editions presenting new content on gender equity and women rights. We decided to shift the focus solely from the award itself, to what we would like to communicate within the award, by sharing our values and opinions from people who are not necessarily engaged in the field of graphic design.
“We decided to shift the focus solely from the award itself, to what we would like to communicate within the award, by sharing our values and opinions from people who are not necessarily engaged in the field of graphic design.”
How can people apply for the awards and what is the criteria?
Participation is open only to women designers who fall within the three categories of the Award. These cover the various phases in the educational and professional life of visual communication designers and come under three categories are aimed at professionals, researchers and teachers, and students in the field of visual communication and graphic design. Whoever wants to enter the award can upload their project and materials through the website: www.aiap-awda.com and will need to register and complete all the information required. From these submissions the winner of the Aiap Women in Design Award and Honorable Mentions will be selected each year.
What are your plans for the future of the project?
We are working hard to give the prize greater visibility because we believe we can reach more women who are passionate about graphic design and proud of their work. We see our work now as a “fresh start”, that is because the amazing founding curators did a great job in finding sponsors, interviewing people, contacting profiles to create the jury for the award etc. But the work required for this kind of project will always need new ideas for the promotion, a constant focus on social media and what’s new in the field of design. This is the part where Bianca, Lucia and I come in—we hope to start communicating that the award not a static activity, but as a dynamic entity that can also inform young women. UNCOVER is the first step of this dream.
“We are working hard to give the prize greater visibility because we believe we can reach more women who are passionate about graphic design and proud of their work.”
UNCOVER, Aiap Women in Design Award 3–4 catalogue, is available online and in selected independent bookshops. Get your copy here.
- Project Leader: Aiap, Associazione italiana design della comunicazione visiva
- Institutional Partner: ico-D, theInternational Council of Design
- Collaborating Partners: Grafill, Norwegian Association for Visual Communication, ADGI, Asosiasi Desainer Grafis Indonesia
- Curated by: Cinzia Ferrara, Laura Moretti and Carla Palladino
- Publisher: Aiap Edizioni, Associazione Italiana Design della Comunicazione Visiva
- Contributors: Gianluca Camillini, Costanza de Luca, Angelica D’Errico, Cinzia Ferrara, Melania Gazzotti, Nilam P Moeliono, Laura Moretti, Carla Palladino, Gianluca Patti, Daniela Piscitelli, Greta Rolando, Tommaso Sacchi, Maria Sætre, Bianca Sangalli Moretti, Marco Tortoioli Ricci, Greta Valotto
- Illustrators: Catarina Alves, Lucia Biancalana, Irene Carbone, Valentina Alga Casali, Francesco Fidani, Giada Franceschelli, Irene Frigo, Marco Goran Romano, Nadia Mazzenga, Paola Momentè, Gianluca Patti, Claudia Plescia, Bianca Sangalli Moretti, Luca Tellurio, Nvard Yerkanian
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Article by Mary Hemingway